Ravi bridge blocked, huge traffic jam witnessed
Excelsior Correspondent
KATHUA, Apr 17: Irate commuters from Punjab working as daily laborers, hawkers and small traders in different parts of Kathua and Samba twin districts today held a massive protest in the middle of Ravi bridge between Lakhanpur and Madhopur and blocked the National Highway for three hours in protest against the conducting of COVID tests for them daily.
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There was a huge traffic jam upto many kilometers on Jammu -Pathankot National Highway on Punjab side as the protestors did not allow any vehicle to ply on the Highway. Raising slogans against the conducting of COVID tests on daily passengers, the protestors demanded that they should be exempted from the same and allowed to enter Lakhanpur as per the prevailing practice of filling up of declaration forms.
The protestors led by Amarjeet Singh and Rajesh Kumar criticized the administration decision and demanded doing away with the daily testing process as has been started by the administration from today. They said majority of them are daily workers or small traders and they can’t undergo testing daily as this will waste their time and they will lose their earning. The protestors said that they have been working in Kathua and some parts of Samba district for years together to earn their living and by putting them to new practice of daily testing they can’t reach their respective destinations in time which will hit their living.
They urged the authorities to take a considerate view of the matter and reconsider the decision so that the hundreds of workers from Punjab visiting J&K daily for their livelihood may not suffer. “We are not opposed to testing or any other restrictions imposed by the authorities to fight the deadly virus but at the same time we must be given exemption from daily testing”, said Rajesh Kumar while addressing the protesters.
Supporting him, Amarjeet Sing another protestor said that either tests for daily commuters from Punjab to J&K be held once in a month or they be asked to fill up the declaration form and allowed to enter Lakhanpur on the basis of the same as was the practice earlier. Some of the passengers said that they were facing lot of humiliation and harassment especially those travelling with their children and families. “We have to wait for hours together for testing along with the children and we are facing now total uncertainty due to new order”, he added.
He said we have been sitting here for over two hours now in the jam and it is not how long it will continue. “We are trapped in the middle of the bridge where from we can neither return nor go ahead”.
However, the protestors later dispersed peacefully after Tehsildar Kathua, Gaurav Sharma, DySP Kathua K D Bhagat and SHO, Lakhanpur, Sumit Sharma as well as teams of Punjab Police reached the spot to pursue the protestors to lift the road blockade.
They, while listening to the issues raised by protestors, assured them that they will take the same to the higher authorities in the administration as they can’t take any decision at their own level. The officials said that they have to carry out the orders and can’t take any decision on their own.
Due to protest there was a huge traffic jam on the NH from Pathankot side and the commuters had to face a tough time after waiting for hours together till jam ended.
However the District Development Commissioner, Kathua, Rahul Yadav told Excelsior that the Government will devise some mechanism to sort out the issue. “We will devise some mechanism to settle the issue”, he said.
He added the people working in Kathua have to give in writing to the administration that they are working at a particular place in Kathua district and instead of daily testing a mechanism for weekly tests will be made to avert any trouble to the daily passengers.
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